


Who Knew

by sktrgrl13



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gray Pining, Love, M/M, Natsu Being Emotionally Constipated, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Singing, Teenage Drama, gratsubingo2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 06:33:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19969585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sktrgrl13/pseuds/sktrgrl13
Summary: Who knew that three years could change everything...even the closest of friends feel the stress of separation and the elation of return, but what happens when memories apparently fade?





	Who Knew

**Author's Note:**

> Here's yet another rewrite! -- An AU This time!! WOO!!
> 
> Also, I am changing the one-shot into a two/three shot!
> 
> Thank you all for your support with my other works, and I hope you enjoy this one as well xx

_Dark, grey clouds covered the afternoon sky; preventing any source of light from breaking through. The normally light clouds seemed heavy and sluggish as they moved through the sky._

_The young, raven-haired boy continued to run as a roll of thunder echoed overhead; he wasn't going to let it stop him. He sniffled, but no matter what he did the tears just wanted to fall. His eyes were burning with the effort of keeping them at bay._

_The rain started to drop haphazardly from the sky as the clouds could no longer bear the weight that was resting upon them. The raven knew exactly how they felt; he didn't know how much longer he would be able to last either._

_The eight year old boy stopped running when he noticed where his feet had led him. The Park. Due to the weather, it was obviously vacant, but the boy couldn't help but think that the play structures seemed a little lonely. The way that the chilly wind pushed the empty swings back and forth made him think that they wanted nothing more than for someone to sit down and help them soar._

_When he closed his eyes, he could remember his mother pushing him on the swing; he was laughing and his mother had the biggest smile on her face. Maybe one even bright enough to chase away these clouds that loomed over him._

_But as he stared at that empty swing, he knew that everything was different._

_He didn't fully understand what was happening around him. All he knew was that his father was never coming home. His mother was never coming home and he would never be able to return home either._

_He was going to have to live with complete strangers._

_Jii-san had tried to explain it to him, but it all just didn't make sense to him. He just wanted to go home. He had seen his Mama and Papa -- they were fine. They were happy, and smiling, and they had only left the house to get some ice cream._

_They were going to come right back!_

_But then he saw his Mama and Papa lying in twin black boxes. It was like they were sleeping. Some strange old man was standing over them and saying more words that he did not quite understand. He was faintly aware of another woman, the woman he was meant to live with, sitting next to him and holding his hand, but it all had to be some kind of joke...right?_

_He didn't start to panic until four other strangers stepped forward and closed the boxes and started to lift his parents up. How would they be able to breathe?_

_He could vaguely remember staring blankly at the hole in the ground that he was led towards by the strange woman. It was only then that he noticed that she also had two other children by her side, but he was too distracted to take note of anything else._

_The strange old man from earlier had started speaking again as his parents were placed on these two weird-holder-things that held them over the holes. Some part of him was still waiting for his Mama and Papa to sit up and reveal it was all a jok_ _e -- his parents loved to make people laugh._

_When suddenly, after someone threw dirt on the two boxes, they slowly started to be lowered into the ground._

_He thinks that he possibly screamed at some point because his throat was a little soar and he was sure that the woman and two children had tried to grab a hold of him, but he had dodged them and ran as fast as he could and as far as he could until..._

_"Hey, are you okay?"_

_The raven haired boy jumped as the loud and somewhat grating voice reached his ears. Self-consciously, he took the sleeve of his suit jacket (that he was forced to wear by that woman) and rubbed at his eyes; he couldn't let this person see that he was crying!_

_Once he was sure that he had gotten all the tears, he slowly turned around. He had managed to get a glimpse of a bright red shirt, white scarf and a flash pink hair before lanky arms were wrapped tightly around him. The raven tensed in his hold, not really one for being cuddled by anyone but his parents, but slowly relaxed as he remembered that he wouldn't even be able to cuddle his Mama and Papa ever again._

_Within seconds of that thought, his tears had renewed and he allowed his face to fall into the crook of the stranger's neck; his shoulders shaking as sobs tore his throat raw. After a few moments, his tears started to stop and instead turned to loud, awkward sniffles. He found himself tensing again as the other person started pulling away._

_When the stranger finally released him completely, he was able to see that the person who was comforting him was actually another kid._

_Of course, if he thought back on it the voice that called out t_ _o him could only belong to someone who had to be his age or maybe even younger._

_His oddly pink shaded hair was drooping slightly from the rain, but even then the raven could tell that it was usually spiked and most likely went any which way that it wished. The boy was a little bit shorter than the raven by a few centimetres, but it was obvious by the scrapes and scabs that adorned the boy's limbs that he was stronger than he looked._

_Surprisingly, what the raven did find odd about the pinkette was not in fact his pink hair or his squinted amber-green eyes, but the scaly scarf that was loosely wrapped around his tanned neck. It was midsummer... it was much too hot for someone to be wearing one; even if it was raining._

_"Are you okay?" The pinkette repeated his question from earlier and cocked his head to the side curiously._

_The raven nodded his head slowly and struggled to wipe the drying tears from his face,_

_"I...I'm fine."_

_The raven found the pinkette in his space once more as he grabbed a hold of his hand and squeezed it tightly. The raven blinked owlishly at the gesture; no one had tried to hold his hand before, but it felt nice. It felt warm. It felt safe._

_The raven sniffled once more and squeezed the boy's hand in return causing a bright smile to light up the boy's face. The raven couldn't help but find the smile infectious and allowed a small smile of his own to spread across his face as well. Even if it was quick to disappear._

_The pinkette laughed loudly before staring into the raven's deep blue eyes,_

_"The name's Natsu, what's yours?"_

_The raven stared down at his mud covered shoes and scuffed them against the grassy ground before mumbling,_

_"'m Gray."_

_The pinkette's silence at his response caused Gray to glance up, but was confused when he saw a soft, but knowing smile on Natsu's face. Natsu squeezed his hand again as determination swallowed his gaze._

_"Gray huh..." He muttered excitedly, "Do you want to be my friend Gray?"_

_Gray's eyes widened as he processed the words that flew out of Natsu's mouth; barely believing what he was hearing. They hadn't known each other more than five minutes and the pink haired boy wanted to be his friend? Gray stared at the boy sceptically; almost as if he was analysing his movements. Gray wasn't particularly known for making friends -- it was something that his Mama typically worried about._

_Whenever he tried to make friends with someone, something always went wrong, but as he looked at Natsu's excited and eager amber-green eyes he knew he had to give him a chance. He nodded his head slightly and squeezed Natsu's hand in return._

_"Y-Yeah..."_

_If it was possible, Natsu's smile got even wider and Gray tensed slightly as he had once again found himself engulfed by Natsu's tight embrace. This being one hug too many resulted in Gray trying to escape the pinkette's octopus-like appendages._

_Natsu simply just hugged him even tighter._

_"Don't you worry Gray," Natsu trilled happily, "We're going to be friends forever, you'll get used to it!"_

**Beep. Beep. BEEP.**

The offending beeping of his bedside alarm pulled a groggy raven out of his peaceful slumber.

Cursing under his breath, Gray picked up his alarm clock and chucked it across the room so hard that it hit the opposite wall. The sound of crushing plastic immediately reached his ears, but honestly, he could care less.

It was the alarm's fault for ruining his dream.

His memory.

Gray snuggled deeper into his blankets and hid his head underneath his pillow in an attempt to return to his dream world. He could feel sleep faintly tugging on his consciousness when calloused hands wrapped firmly around his ankles and pulled.

He was suddenly airborne as the side of his stomach smacked against his, luckily, carpeted floor. He groaned in both tiredness and annoyance as he curled up into a tight ball where he landed. He didn't even need to turn around to discover who the culprit was either.

This was something that happened every morning. 

You'd think he'd learn to lock his door; not that that would help him in any shape or form.

His older brother stood over him with his arms crossed firmly over his chest; a proud smirk contorting his pale lips. Gray could feel the white-haired male's eyes burning into his back prompting him to sigh in defeat. He pushed himself into a slumped standing position as he rubbed his stomach rhythmically in an effort to ease the pain.

Lyon knew that his stomach was a sensitive spot for him; why he continued to abuse him like that every morning was beyond him. 

Lyon chuckled at his accusatory expression before ruffling the sleep tousled messy raven hair into an even more chaotic mess,

"It's not my fault that you broke your fourth alarm clock this week; something has to make sure you get up for school."

Gray's deep blue eyes darkened even further at the mention of school. Fairy Tail Academy itself wasn't the problem. Sure, the students (himself included) were a little odd and more than a tad eccentric and the teachers where crazier than the students. The principal even had the strangest attitude of them all which made the high school experience just that little bit more bearable.

No, the reason why he didn't want to go to school was because of the person had been haunting his dreams that very morning.

Natsu Dragneel.

He hated going to school to see his ex-childhood friend walking around the halls without him by his side. 

He hated the fact that the dumbass pyro had forgotten the stupid promise from all those years ago.

The year before Gray and the others were meant to go into high school, Natsu and his father had moved away from Magnolia Town to the City of Edolas. His father had gotten transferred to some major hospital and he wasn't able to turn it down which meant that Natsu had no choice to go with him; even if he did argue about it for a good six months before it went through.

Up until age thirteen, Natsu and Gray were inseparable. 

One would not be seen without the other, even if they did spend most of their time shouting at each other and competing. When Natsu had told him that he was moving, Gray nearly shut right down and started avoiding the pinkette for a few weeks. Once again, Gray had to face the idea that he was going to be alone.

That is until Natsu hunted him down and yelled at him for being so stupid.

In an effort to ease his worries, Natsu promised that he would write every day and would return to Magnolia every single summer. Gray could remember punching him in the arm as an acceptance of that promise before pulling the surprised pinkette into a tight hug; something that Gray had never initiated in their five years of friendship.

He remembered the pinkette freezing in surprise for a moment before relaxing and nuzzling his head into the crook of Gray's neck; his arms resting lazily on Gray's waist. Gray gave Natsu one last squeeze before they finally separated. He remembered looking into Natsu's amber-green eyes and opening his mouth to wish Natsu luck before sending him to the moving van and his waiting father when Natsu suddenly and hesitantly pressed his lips against Gray's.

He remembered his eyes widening in surprise and slightly panicking about what he should do, but as soon as he became comfortable with the warmth on his lips, the warmth was gone. In the next second, Natsu was running away from him and waving goodbye; shouting that he would write to him and see him soon.

For the first six months, Natsu kept his promise. He wrote Gray every single day. Sometimes he was in the middle of responding to one letter and another would show up the next day meaning he would have to revise the one he was in the process of sending. Despite all his worries and fears, it seemed as if they would be able to do it. With three more months until the summer holidays, they only had to put up with the distance just a little bit longer.

And then they could finally talk about what happened before Natsu left -- it was something that he was too scared to bring up in the letters and Natsu didn't acknowledge himself, so it just fell to the wayside.

Then suddenly, Natsu had stopped writing.

At first, Gray had thought it was because Natsu was going to be in Magnolia soon enough and that maybe his dad realised how much money he was spending at the Post Office. But then Natsu didn't return for the summer.

Or the next Summer.

Or the next.

Even so, Gray waited and waited for letters to come. Soon enough he and the others were going to be entering Fairy Tail Academy for their four years of high school and he still hadn't heard from Natsu. And he wouldn't for another three years.

It happened in their Junior Year.

He was about to give up hope indefinitely, finally accepting that Natsu had walked right out of his life, when a familiar head of pink hair entered his homeroom. Despite the fact that he was annoyed and a little pissed off that he hadn't heard from the pinkette in three years, he was willing to accept him with open arms.

He was Natsu for gods sake. He was basically Gray's entire world (not that he'd say it out loud) and he'd be lying if he said he hadn't spent the last three years pining after him.

But when those amber-green eyes reached deep blue that day in homeroom and Gray raised his hand to wave at him, Natsu simply looked away. 

And even worse?

There was no recognition in Natsu's eyes _._


End file.
